Government eliminates retroactivity in the Nationality Law, but maintains loss of citizenship

In the new version of the proposed Nationality Law, to be reviewed by MPs on Wednesday, the Government has dropped the transitional regime that would have applied the effects of the new legislation retroactively to June 19 (the date of the Government's Program debate in Parliament) and will apply the same system of counting years for access to nationality to both European citizens and people from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). This information was released this Tuesday by "Público."

On the other hand, the newspaper reports, it does not waive the loss of nationality for those who commit crimes considered very serious, maintains the mandatory requirement of a Portuguese language exam and knowledge of the constitutional principles of the rule of law, and also provides that the period for obtaining nationality begins only from the date on which legal residence is granted.

After Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa sent the recent Foreigners Law to the Constitutional Court for preventive review—a gesture that included a warning to the Government about "legislative haste"—it is unclear whether he will make the same decision regarding the new Nationality Law.